Is the Business Side of the Raptors as interesting (or more) than the Game Side?

I have been a fan of basketball for decades, and love the game immensely. Yet never have I been more interested and creative with the business side of the Raptors, (coaching, drafts, potential trades, team building, fit, etc.) than as a fan of any other team in basketball or other sport (I have been a Laker fan since the 70's and nowhere near this interest in off-season etc.) The off-season every year with free-agent chases, trades, drafts and such is just as interesting as following the season.

My wife bugs me that I am as interested, if not more interested, in the Raptors during the offseason!

From real sports to fantasy sports to video games, I've always been as interested in the GM role as I have been to actually play/watch the games themselves. It is also the most frustrating part of fan sites like RR, because we all like to put on the GM hat and discuss trade ideas and evaluate trades, yet we have no insight in to the real discussion that goes on behind the scenes. For instance, we can have all the debate about Bargnani we want on here, but without knowing what offers have been made and what the potential market is for him, all our arguments & points are meaningless...

I have been a fan of basketball for decades, and love the game immensely. Yet never have I been more interested and creative with the business side of the Raptors, (coaching, drafts, potential trades, team building, fit, etc.) than as a fan of any other team in basketball or other sport (I have been a Laker fan since the 70's and nowhere near this interest in off-season etc.) The off-season every year with free-agent chases, trades, drafts and such is just as interesting as following the season.

What about for you?

I'm in total agreement. The business side is just as entertaining as the on-court product for me.

It was very similar when I was a teenager in the early to mid 90's and I followed pro-wrestling. The feud between WCW and WWF and what wrestler was signing with either company was awesome and intriguing to me.

I love the sport side of basketball. The business side to me, is just a distraction from what really matters.

It seems these days the game takes a backseat to the business side, and it even bleeds onto the court. Miami doesn't get like double the FTAs than Philly while taking it into the paint half as much because of the game-side of things.

I get more enjoyment out of following the business side of the franchise; The building of a contending team: drafting players, signing free-agents, trades, managing the cap are the best.
Now, in a couple of years, if we have a good team, maybe I'll like watching the games more. But as it stands right now, I'd rather spend my time trying to figure out how to make the team better.

The buisness side is definetly not more fun but it is a good way to kill some time. Personally i watch 95 percent of the game with a small group of friends. We roll one up and watch the game, much more fun then disscussing posssible trades IMO

At the moment, the business side is far more interesting than the games. You pray for the draft, agonize over picks, hope for that big free agent... When a team is pretty much set, a la Boston or LA, the business side probably drops off and you start focusing more on games. But as of right now, my fingers are crossed for Kyrie.

As more money gets involved the business side gets more complicated and interesting. I remember superstars would never leave there team. Zeke, bird, magic, Doc. ring chasing was a no no. zeke got a 2mil contract and we talked about it all summer it shocked the basketball world. we would stay out in the park talking about signature moves. Mitchell wiggins stutter step. zeke hesitation dribble with the blowby first step. magic no look around the back full court pass. ALEX ENGLISH finish off the glass. Doc finger roll. bird turn around fade away glass. UTEP 2 STEP (enough dudes would finish there summer early trying that full speed) so now we sit in the park and talk salary cap and free agency and drafts. to distract us from the fact the league is watered down. we got starting point guards with suspect ball handling skills and wonder if they can pass the ball. shooting guards that make the allstar team shooting 40% from the field. a 7 foot centre/forward that cant post. no dropstep, jump hook, up and under. AND CANT REBOUND! so i guess when the players suck, we should talk about when we can trade them, who the hell drafted this guy and when is he gonna fire the coach that cant team him how to play basketball at this level.

I have been a fan of basketball for decades, and love the game immensely. Yet never have I been more interested and creative with the business side of the Raptors, (coaching, drafts, potential trades, team building, fit, etc.) than as a fan of any other team in basketball or other sport (I have been a Laker fan since the 70's and nowhere near this interest in off-season etc.) The off-season every year with free-agent chases, trades, drafts and such is just as interesting as following the season.

What about for you?

Very interesting. The more you understand the CBA, the more interesting it all is because you can sort of peer inside a GM's mind figure out what he was thinking on a trade or signing or better yet, what he could/should do in the future. It also allows you to determine which rumors carry weight and which are total B.S. A lot of the B.S. Raptors related rumors last year originated from the NY Post. It is obvious that they do not understand the CBA or are not real journalists or both...

Very interesting. The more you understand the CBA, the more interesting it all is because you can sort of peer inside a GM's mind figure out what he was thinking on a trade or signing or better yet, what he could/should do in the future. It also allows you to determine which rumors carry weight and which are total B.S. A lot of the B.S. Raptors related rumors last year originated from the NY Post. It is obvious that they do not understand the CBA or are not real journalists or both...

Ha, or are just trying to sell people on ideas that they sat back and thought "what messed up nonsense can I try to get started?" It's like they are the valley gossip girls creating a false rumour just to see if it catches on and how much it will change.